Point of View

"The Voyage" is written from the third person point of view, with limited access to Fenella Crane's thoughts as she travels from Wellington to Picton with her grandmother. While Katherine Mansfield wrote a number of short stories, "The Voyage" is one of only a few that are told from the perspective of a child. By writing in the third person voice with a focus on Fenella, the author is able to portray Fenella's experience with authenticity while also suggesting deeper meanings through what Fenella sees and feels. In the beginning of the story, for example, while Fenella is being ushered toward the boat, the narrator says, "Here and there on a rounded wood-pile, that was like the stalk of a huge black mushroom, there hung a lantern, but it seemed afraid to unfurl its timid, quivering light in all that blackness; it burned softly, as...